UC Admit rates for Class of 2026 are finally out !!!!

I hope this helps some of you make informed decisions on which UC to apply if you are applying to UC schools.

Overall, about 43.8% of admits come from some marginalized group. 37.3% LatinA, 5.8% Black and less than 1% indigenous. 35% of UC admits were Asian, and 16% were White, I'm guessing the missing 5.2% were mixed race or other.

Since the UCs are prioritizing CA residents there were 19% fewer International admits, and 12.2% fewer non-resident (out of state) admits. Overall, there's been a drop in Community College attendance in CA resulting in 3200 fewer transfer applications. Nevertheless, transfer admits through TAG and TAP programs are up.

UCLA - Class of 2026 acceptance rate was 8.52% versus 10.77% for the Class of 2025. Given the 10000+ increase in applications, I believe for the Class of 2027 this trend will continue and there will be close to 160,000 applications with an admit rate of 7.5-7.7%.

UC Berkeley - Class of 2026 acceptance rate was 11.40% versus 14.44% for the Class of 2025. Given the 15000+ increase in applications, I believe for the Class of 2027 this trend will continue and there will be close to 140,000 applications with an admit rate of 10%-10.5%

UC Irvine - Class of 2026 acceptance rate was 21% versus 28.82% for the Class of 2025. Given the 11000+ increase in applications, I believe for the Class of 2027 this trend will continue and there will be close to 130,000 applications with an admit rate of 17-18%

UC San Diego - Class of 2026 acceptance rate was 23.7% versus 34.31% for the Class of 2025. Given the 13000+ increase in applications, I believe for the Class of 2027 this trend will continue and there will be close to 145,000 applications with an admit rate of 20.5-21%

UC Santa Barbara - Class of 2026 acceptance rate was 25.80% versus 29.11% for the Class of 2025. Given the 5000+ increase in applications, I believe for the Class of 2027 this trend will continue and there will be close to 115,000 applications with an admit rate of 23-23.5%

UC Davis - Class of 2026 acceptance rate was 40.53% versus 49.34% for the Class of 2025. Given the 5000+ increase in applications, I believe for the Class of 2027 this trend will continue and there will be close to 115,000 applications with an admit rate of 34.5-35%

UC Santa Cruz - Class of 2026 acceptance rate was 47.18% versus 49.15% for the Class of 2025. Given the 8000 decreases in applications, I believe for the Class of 2027 this trend will continue and there will be close to 60000 applications with an admit rate of 47-48%

The big takeaway for me is that UC schools are becoming more and more popular for CA residents because now they have serious clout and prestige factor. For middle and upper-middle-class families, there is no reason to apply to Notre Dame, Rice, JHU, Georgetown, Vandy, WashU, NYU, Tufts, BU, BC, and NorthEastern when you can get a good or better education at UCLA or UC Berkeley. And there is no reason for those looking at 2nd tier schools to go private either when UCI, UCSB, or UCSD are great alternatives to Wake Forest, UVA, UNC, U of Miami, U of Washington, American, UMich, Florida State, Emory, Villanova. If you compare the In-state cost of attendance at +35,000, that's way better than +85,000, or a savings of at least $200,000 over 4 years.

The bad news is for Int'l and Out of State applicants who fill find it harder and harder to get into UCLA and UCB and other UC schools. TEST BLIND favors CA residents especially since 44% are marginalized and 35% of Asians already have stellar transcripts, many of who don't need a test score to get into a UC school since the top 9% students are auto-admitted into a UC college. This does make it harder for non-resident applicants who have test scores.

Good luck everyone.